There's no time frame for the move -- it could be eight weeks, it could be eight months, Fladung said, according to staffers. Fladung reportedly said the staffers in the building's first and fourth floors, which contain its newsroom and copy and production hubs, could move to the Plain Dealer's suburban production facility on Tiedeman Road in Brooklyn, Ohio, or possibly a downtown office.

The Northeast Ohio Media Group would move into the old space. That staff includes editorial staffers for Cleveland.com and the Sun News papers. Unlike the Plain Dealer's staff, which is mostly unionized, those employees aren't. Asked by Poynter why the staff couldn't be placed in the same office, one person who was at the meeting reportedly expressed bafflement: "“Lord knows there’s plenty of space."

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Andrew Beaujon reported on the media for Poynter from 2012 to 2015. He was previously arts editor at TBD.com and managing editor of Washington City Paper. He's the author of the 2006 book "Body Piercing Saved My Life," about Christian rock and evangelical Christian culture.